The grand marshal leading the 2017 National Stock Show Parade won’t be just another boring two-legged VIP.
Instead, Thunder, the Broncos’ team mascot, a gray Arabian gelding, will head the traditional parade of Longhorn cattle, horses and western wagons through Downtown Denver on Jan. 5 to kick off the 16-day stock show.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate Thunder, not only as the best mascot in the NFL, but also as a symbol of our western spirit and a representative of the equine community,” said Paul Andrews, stock show president.
It won’t be the first time that the position was held by a big shot with four legs.
In 2007, Rin Tin Tin X, a German Shepherd, supposedly a descendant of Rin Tin Tin, the pooch that an American soldier rescued from a World War I battlefield and went on to become a Hollywood star.
Other previous grand marshals have included Mayor Michael Hancock; Federico Pena, Denver’s first Latino mayor; Rich Karlis, former barefoot placekicker for the Denver Broncos and five-time NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups, who played for the University of Colorado.
